Champions
League Drama
An early shot from the edge of the box that contained such venom that Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel’s reflexes only narrowly saved him from a trip to the dentist. A few minutes later, a free kick to the right of the box that did not connect as well, but still registered Phil Foden a second long-range strike on target within the game’s opening 15 minutes.
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The Manchester City man had found his range. He had signalled his intention.
When he soon collected the ball in space for a third time, what happened next came as no surprise. This time it was a low curler, rather than a laces-through-it strike, but Kobel could not stop it from finding the inside netting.
Three touches were all it took from Foden. One to spin on the half-turn, another to push the ball into his path and another to whip the ball into the far corner. His second long-range strike came in the second half of Manchester City’s 4-1 home Champions League victory on Wednesday and was just as finessed, curling another finish into Kobel’s bottom-right corner.
The double means Foden has scored the most goals (11) from outside the box of any Premier League player since the start of 2023-24 — the season he was voted the English game’s player of the year by the Football Writers’ Association, courtesy of 27 goals in all competitions.
“Phil is back,” declared City manager Pep Guardiola.
“You know how many times, how many years we have seen this type of goal from Phil. We missed a lot last season, even this season. I think he’s going to help us a lot, he’s confident to score this type of goal. It is not to shoot strong, it’s just to put the ball close to the post. It’s like a pass to the net.”
Between December 2023 and May 2024, Foden scored eight goals from range, including against Real Madrid in the Champions League and in the final-day victory against West Ham to help clinch a fourth straight Premier League title. Last season, he failed to add to that total as his form nosedived amid a team-wide collapse, but he rediscovered his shooting mojo with a 25-yarder against Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup in September.
The execution of both finishes against Dortmund required sublime precision but to focus purely on the final act is to ignore how the magnetic pull striker Erling Haaland has on opposition defenders is helping create the space for Foden to ghost into these pockets around the penalty area.
Haaland and Foden may not be viewed as a traditional forward partnership, but they are effectively a front two in the way the latter is occupying the space just off his front man. Teams are petrified of giving Haaland any room to run into, which means centre-backs are regularly dropping off as soon as he threatens to make a run in-behind.
Tijjani Reijnders pulling out wide from central midfield and Savinho holding the width on the same flank made it difficult for Dortmund to know who to shut off. Foden was left spare and, as he turned on the ball, the mere sight of Haaland threatening the option of a through ball saw Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton drop back and offer Foden a chance to take aim.
Against Napoli in another Champions League fixture this season, Foden squandered a couple more opportunities presented by the Italians being too preoccupied with Haaland, but his sublime scoop assist for the striker showed that the space afforded by the latter dragging defenders away can lead to him turning provider.
Foden has such quick feet and can turn so sharply at pace that a yard or two is enough for him to produce magic in these congested areas.
That was the start of the duo’s improved dynamic.
Rayan Cherki’s two assists in the 3-1 win against Bournemouth dominated the focus afterwards, but Foden was a key part of two goals and, having been deployed from the right and left flanks by Guardiola, he is the one the manager has trusted to take charge of the centre of the pitch.
Foden put in a man-of-the-match performance against Dortmund last night, but a Doku assist and Cherki goal gave City further reasons to be optimistic about the rest of their season.
Haaland and Foden are complementing each other well and when Doku’s one-v-one abilities are added on City’s left, with the imagination of Cherki off the right side, there is the potential for a multi-faceted and potent front four.
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